Thousands of patients across England and Wales cannot book GP appointments online after the software supplier Silicon Practice entered administration without warning.
The collapse of the provider has left hundreds of surgeries scrambling to reach out to their lists, with many users redirected to the NHS portal or faced with a 'bad gateway' error.
Silicon Practice, which says it "proudly serves 1,000 websites" for GP practices and has worked with the NHS since 2005, saw its parent firm Schappit Ltd submit a notice of administration earlier this month.
Yesterday, patients received messages that their practice's website would be unavailable, and some surgeries warned the outage could last up to two weeks.
Southgate Surgery in north London posted: "Our website (for routine issues only) is currently unavailable because our provider went into administration without warning. We apologise for the inconvenience. This is temporary while we find a new provider."
Other clinics used social media to inform patients, such as Cranfield & Marston Surgery in Bedford, which wrote on Facebook that the Marston Forest Healthcare site is down following Silicon Practice's administration and that the online patient dashboard is also inaccessible.
The practice added that they are working with a new supplier to restore services and urged patients to call, use the Anima portal, or visit in person for assistance.
Downland Practice in Newbury also announced the removal of its website and the suspension of online consultation services after the provider's administration, asking non-urgent callers to wait until Monday, November 2, to free phone lines for emergencies.
Patients can still reach their surgeries by phone or in person, and those using the NHS app may continue to request repeat prescriptions and fit notes.
NHS England confirmed that practices using Silicon Practice will be affected but gave no timeline for restoration. A spokesperson said, "While the majority of GP practice websites are running as normal, some practices which use Silicon Practice will be affected by the company going into administration. If your GP practice website is unavailable and you need help, you should contact your practice by phone or in person as usual."
